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Meetings in Japan as Tensions Mount

Apr 26 2017 by Michele Stevens

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the drills, held on Tuesday to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Korean People's Army, which state news agency KCNA described as "the largest-ever combined fire demonstration of the KPA services".

According to South Korea's military, the DPRK conducted large-scale live-fire artillery exercises on Tuesday to mark its army anniversary.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced it would be sending the USS Vinson, an aircraft carrier, to the Korean Peninsula, after U.S. officials said they anticipated a fresh round of nuclear tests and missile launches.

South Korea's Navy said it would soon join the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group approaching the region.

North Korea was defiant, saying its military was prepared "to bring to closure the history of U.S. scheming and nuclear blackmail".

Angered by the approach of the USS Carl Vinson carrier group, a defiant North Korea, which has carried out nuclear and missile tests in defiance of successive rounds of United Nations sanctions, said the deployment was "an extremely unsafe act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade".

Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council member countries that they must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea.

The allies also planned to hold another major joint naval practice involving the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the sea off the peninsula's east coast near the end of the month, the navy said.

(KOREAN) "It's highly likely North Korea will test the first propellant stage of an ICBM engine or test mid-range or long-range missiles with new solid-fuel engines".

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In South Korea, the deployment has stirred a mix of reactions, including protests and clashes with police Wednesday. Geng said, without elaborating. "North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve".

Trump is now seeking greater worldwide cooperation on North Korea, particularly with China in the hopes that Beijing can reign in its neighbor. Though the meeting is being organized by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, it will be conducted by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. Envoys from the US, South Korea and Japan are also due to meet in Japan on Tuesday to discuss the current crisis.

"The situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the US imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression", he told the gathering.

Tensions have been high amid fears that North Korea will conduct another nuclear or missile test.

Japanese officials say US representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun met today with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong Kyun of South Korea to share their latest analyses and discuss cooperation as America moves a Nuclear Powered Submarine in to South Korea.

South Korea has said China has discriminated against some South Korean companies in retaliation against the deployment.

Trump's admonition on Monday came as the White House scheduled high-level meetings on North Korea amid concerns about a sixth nuclear test and as tensions escalated over the weekend with the arrest of an American citizen.

Top nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea and the United States met yesterday in Tokyo and vowed "stern action" against any fresh North Korean provocations. "North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve".

In a separate meeting slated for Wednesday, high-ranking military officials will brief senators on North Korea, the Pentagon said.